NAME
Catalyst::Authentication::Credential::Upstream::Headers
SYNOPSIS
use Catalyst qw(Authentication);
__PACKAGE__->config(
authentication => {
default_realm => 'upstream',
realms => {
upstream => {
credential => {
class => 'Upstream::Headers',
# name of header containing the user id
user_header => 'X-Catalyst-Credential-Upstream-User',
# name of header containing a delimited list of user roles
role_header => 'X-Catalyst-Credential-Upstream-Roles',
# the delimiter to use when parsing roles
role_delimiter => '|',
# boolean value indicating whether or not to attempt to
# parse roles as X.500 distinguished names
use_x500_cn => 1
}
}
}
}
);
DESCRIPTION
The Upstream::Headers credential class provides for passing identity
metadata to the application via HTTP headers. These headers might be
appended by an HTTP front-end that performs authentication services
before reverse proxying to the application.
In addition to the username, a list of delimited roles may be passed.
The delimiter is configurable by setting the role_delimiter property in
the config. By default, the pipe character ('|') is used for the
delimiter.
By default, roles are crudely checked to see if they look like X.501
distinguished names. If so, the commonName (cn) component of the DN is
returned instead of the full DN. This behavior may be disabled by
setting use_x500_cn to false in the config.
HISTORY
This authentication credential for Catalyst::Plugin::Authentication was
originally implemented to support OpenAM in a way that fit into the
framework provided by C::P::A.
OpenAM (formerly Sun's OpenSSO) is a federated identity management
platform. It is a complex product supporting SAML and integration with
Microsoft's Active Directory. OpenAM provides authentication and
authorization services to web applications by utilizing agents that run
in front of the application. The agents are implemented as plugins for
popular HTTP servers, injecting logic into the request handler and
applying policy based upon upstream configuration.
One of the methods of passing identity information back down to the
application is by including the information in the request headers. This
is similar in scope to the Credential::Remote implementation, but using
headers instead of environment variables.
CAVEATS
* I really hope I don't have to say it, but don't let users bypass your
authentication mechanisms by passing the headers themselves.
* This is a pretty crappy way of passing identity metadata around.
AUTHOR
Mike Eldridge
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
This software is copyright (c) 2012 by Infinity Interactive, Inc.
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.